According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, El Paso’s employment fell from 322,863 in August, 2013 to 320,437 in August, 2015 (the latest month for which data is posted).
That’s only 2,400 jobs we lost. Only a little more than 100 a month.
I guess those didn’t get announced in the press.
We should give credit to Mayor Leeser’s press secretary for making sure all those new jobs got announced.
Interesting other side to the story. I wonder if the net loss of employment is related to long-term unemployed who drop off the radar, retirees/disabled leaving the workforce, the so-called “brain drain”, or a reduction in federal money flowing to the military and law enforcement in the area, or even something else. Did the overall population grow while the overall workforce shrunk?
CCI Partners, the entity trying to justify a downtown arena, says that El Paso’s population is growing at a rate of 1.3 % per year. This compares favorably with the “Peer Group” cities CCI sticks us in with. Toledo has negative growth. Grand Rapids and Allentown are growing at .5 and .2 percent, respectively.
It’s telling who they think our peer group is, isn’t it?
A more incisive study of employment patterns in El Paso is called for, but I bet we won’t get it from this City Council.